Sofirn SC18 Torches LED Super Bright Rechargeable Torch Flashlight 1800 Lumens IPX8 Waterproof, EDC Light with Side Switch 6 Modes,USB Hand Torch for Camping, Hiking and Emergency Use

Product Information

Turbo drifts down fairly quickly, but not in such a way that it seems to be gaming the ANSI standard.

It’s an unusual design with an almost square head with four CREE XP-L2 V6 LED’s and it has a full length non-reversible pocket clip which allows for deep carry bezel up. I wonder if they were undecided about what they were going to put in there or they’re possibly considering other LEDs. It is a slightly longer protected button top cell, but there’s a decent sized spring in the tailcap and the head contact sits proud and I found a flat top shorter unprotected battery also worked fine in the torch. A rubber flap covers the USB-C charging port and it charges the supplied battery in around 80 minutes. In a nutshell, the fresnel lens does the job of a convex lens by dividing up the curvature of the lens over a number of lower-profile concentric rings.Usually manufacturers don’t want you getting into the bezel, but on the SC32 it’s wide open, meaning emitter swaps will be a breeze. Yes, this is documented in the manual, and if I had sat down and read the whole thing before taking the light out of the box, I would’ve expected that, but this is not intuitive.

I’ve thoroughly tested over 20 torches, taking multiple torches on my morning walk every day over the last 4 weeks to see how they fare in real life use. It’s made of a aerospace grade 6061 aluminium alloy, with type III hard anodised finish and has an IPX8 waterproof rating. There is also a USB-A to USB-C charging cable included, which is a good one to use, as the charging port is recessed and in somewhat of a tight space.And this switch sits slightly proud of the base so it won’t tail stand which is a bit disappointing. Unlike on the Sofirn SC18, there’s no silk-screened logo to indicate the battery direction (this is fine for me. You’ll barely notice it on a belt or in your jacket pocket but although it’s slender it might be a little long for your jeans pocket. The torch has a fairly complex user interface which took me a while to understand, but it’s very comprehensive.

Solid green and the torch has over 85% charge, flashing green 50-85%, red 25-50% and flashing red if it’s less than 25% charge remaining. That’s pretty close to what Sofirn lists as 10,000 candela and there’s still useful spill for seeing what’s right in front of you too. It’s fine if you’re applying pressure parallel to the body of the light, but from side to side, there’s nothing for your hand to grip. And an arguably more useful torch for day to day jobs around the house, working on the car and DIY tasks – especially in the winter months is a head torch. You do need to remove the battery from the torch to charge it which is far less convenient – but no external charging mechanism does mean there’s one less thing to go wrong.And the torch does come with a better than average IP68 dust and waterproof rating like the two Fenix torches in this roundup. On the other side of the tube, the threads for the head are unanodized, so mechanical lockout is not possible on this light.